Bulk cargo

Bulk, and bulk, bulk goods or shortly Bulk (english bulk, mass ', ' amount '), as defined by the United Nations is any type of cargo, which lends itself due to its uniform physical properties for bulk handling and transport.

According to another definition specifically for the maritime sector each charge is bulk, when it occupies an entire shipload or at least most of it; So even those that you would normally view due to their uneven physical properties as general cargo, such as bananas, automobiles, coffee sacks, live animals or tree trunks.

There are goods in large quantity delivered, most of which are not intended for the end user, but for traders and the processing industry, and usually incorporated into a final product. In bulk so it is usually to semi-finished products and production items.

Sea freight and air freight

Due to their usually physically uniform character to bulk goods are very suitable for transport and bulk. One can divide them among other things as follows:

Last turn, can be divided into:

• Solid bulk cargo in granular form ( bulk material ) such as ore, coal, bauxite, phosphate, cement, grain or
• Solid bulk cargo in the form of pieces (piece goods ) like tree trunks, paper, automobiles or steel.

Bulk in the solid state can then be stored and transported in big bags.

IT

In IT, it happens that bulk is also sold directly to end users. It then is hardware (hard drives, processors, CD burners ) that dispenses as opposed to retail goods, Manuals, and drivers or other accessories.

Pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, food industry, petroleum industry, detergents and cleaning agents

In the pharmaceutical industry is to distinguish between drugs and medicines. Drugs, also called active pharmaceutical ingredients, are often produced in bulk quantities by some 100 kg, 1000 kg or more even larger quantities and traded, and then in the pharmaceutical industry - optionally with the addition of aids - converted into drugs and packaged, formed, for example, tablets, dragees or infusion solutions. Analogously, in the cosmetics industry, for example large quantities ( bulk ) Shampoo prepared and then portioned into individual packages. The same is done in the manufacture of pesticides from crop protection active ingredient or in the petroleum industry in lubricants, which are first prepared as bulk and subsequently offered to the consumer in individual packaging. From the food industry, for example, freeze-dried coffee in batches of several 100 kg mass ( = bulk ), packed in big bags sold to processing or packaging companies.

Benefits

Since in bulk the typical elements of a salable product - such as ( color printed ) sales package and the printed manual, and occasionally software offerings - are missing, it is often sold cheaper than the retail version (see also: bundle, boxed ). In bulk often lack an extended warranty; the statutory warranty by the seller but not eliminated thereby.